E&C Democratic Committee Leaders Urge FERC to Incorporate Environmental Justice Principles into Its Decision-Making

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) today urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to incorporate environmental justice principles into its decision-making. In a letter to FERC Chairman Willie Phillips, the Committee leaders pointed to the strides the Commission has made on environmental justice over the last two years but said that the Commission must do more to incorporate environmental justice into all its decisions and activities.

"We are encouraged by FERC's recent steps to recognize environmental justice issues, but respectfully note that given the history and legacy of environmental injustice in the United States, much more must be done," Pallone and DeGette wrote to the FERC Chairman. "FERC must take concrete steps to incorporate environmental justice principles into its decision-making, especially its authorizations of natural gas pipelines and liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities.

The Committee leaders stressed the need for FERC to include environmental justice considerations in any analysis of public convenience and necessity when determining whether or not to grant a natural gas pipeline certificate or site an LNG facility. Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) requires the Commission to determine if a pipeline facility is "required by the present or future public convenience and necessity."

"If the cumulative sum of those considerations and other factors lead Commissioners to determine that a project is not required by public convenience and necessity, then FERC must not grant that project a certificate," the two Democratic Committee leaders wrote in their letter.

"Even if FERC grants a certificate, the NGA provides the Commission substantial powers to condition certificates when it grants them to applicants," Pallone and DeGette continued. "If the Commission determines that public convenience and necessity demands that a facility be approved, the Commission has the authority to properly condition the certificate in order to ensure that the health and environmental impacts of any facility are mitigated to the greatest extent possible."

The two Committee leaders said FERC over the last two years has taken numerous steps to enhance its consideration of environmental justice issues, including issuing an Equity Action Plan, creating a Senior Counsel for Environmental Justice and Equity, and establishing the Office of Public Participation (OPP). FERC also held its first ever environmental justice roundtable in March of this year.

"As numerous participants at the roundtable made very clear, over the last two years the OPP has brought forth a dramatic shift in how FERC interacts with environmental justice communities," the two Democratic Committee leaders continued in their letter. "We urge FERC to encourage OPP to build upon its work by making the Commission more accessible to communities across the nation, and to utilize the office as much as possible to engage communities impacted by projects subject to FERC authorization."

Pallone and DeGette also voiced strong support for FERC's fiscal year 2024 budget request to have OPP explore opportunities for intervenor funding, as authorized by the Federal Power Act.

The full letter is available HERE.

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